Today we go to the train and return on the bus. It is very cold. We were awakened at 5:30 by Elvis and an announcement that it was 17 degrees out–and blowing. Park was better this morning: no wet shoes, no wet jeans, poop in a straight line. Yesterday we did some country work, walking on a road without sidewalks. More trouble than it’s worth! Our second trip was back on South Street, into stores, walking on the Green in the center of town. The graduates who live in town don’t walk on the Green because it is impossible to judge the traffic and use the traffic islands to get there. Our Elm Street solo went fine. I partnered with another woman who found memorizing the route and the traffic overwhelming. She lives in the country. We had to work around a construction site–an unplanned barrier. I realized how strange it is to hear construction since there is not a lot of it in Jamestown. I think the day laborers were talking about us. I think I heard the word perror as I passed. Later in the trip, there was a dog guide backup at the planned barrier. We were 4 of 4. Elwood didn’t even bother to go up to the barrier. he just made the turn. We had to wait for traffic to step out into the road. In the afternoon, we rode escalators and elevators in a department store. At my final massage session, the woman said everyone told her they were tired. She was doing a lot with leg muscles. I learned that although my knees ached, it is probably the thigh muscles which ache. Elwood is being very stupid about going to his mat. He is very clear about staying there while I bring the food. In the afternoon, we have to tell them to stay put while we fix dinner. He is very clear about what gets dinner there fast–or he thinks he’s tied up–I don’t know which yet. I managed to tie him up in the flixline–25 feet of tape measure. It reminded me of the time I got Caitlin wrapped up in a microphone wire during worship. Later … The train was late so we took it both ways and will leave the bus to another day. It was very cold waiting on the platform. Elwood has been taught to avoid the edge of the platform when there is no train. A forward command from several feet away causes him to immediately turn left or right. We needed to use the stairs both ways to get on and off the train.When we got back, Elwood stopped at a very high curb. He refused to go off of it. Who knows! It might have been a platform. Hey, he was at a train station. Finally, we got him into the parking lot. Train station: Elwood 100%, Merrill, about an 82. Platforms make me nervous though I traveled NJ Transit and Septa 7 to and from LTSP for a semester. Rusty’s sermonreflects on adventures, beginning with Merrill ’n Elwood.

Yesterday: a second go-round of the Elm Street route. There’s a ditty for the street names. I’ll capitalize the street names: The King of Pine Wil not [Mont] Spring over Dumont to South. Pine–we cross it twice, has a light and so does Spring. It’sw 1.5 miles long so we walked 3 miles yesterday. When we got back, my neighbor stopped by. We are still tied to our dogs. Her dog proceeded to urinate on the floor, soaking my bedspread and coat. Housekeeping was alerted about the spread. I went off to the laundry room. I fell asleep so didn’t get the coat dried before afternoon park. I used my polartek vest which was enough. On my way to the laundry downstairs, I ran into (literally) the Seeing Eye president and his dog. He apologized for interfering with my exit to park. We’re on our way back, I told him. Our shoes are safe. For evening park, I couldn’t locate my gloves. I have since found them. Elwood is a trial at park. I wash my shoes regularly. The instructors are starting to laugh at me. I’m always jumping back from him while I’m trying to unharness him. He also walks when he poops. I am usually standing in the middle of a circle by the time he’s done. The trick will be to stop him from walking while not stopping him from pooping. We’re off for another turn around the block, so to speak.

We started to learn the Elm Street route. It is basically pie-shaped with the north side of South Street forming the crust of the pie. Elm Street forms one side of the slice and five streets: King Pine Wilmont Spring Dumont are on the other side. It’s cold and windy today. We passed day laborers looking for work. They must be very cold as their streets were shady and the wind was blowing. I was there about 8:30 a.m. Have they been standing around since 3 or 4 a.m.? Elwood has some do-overs–a dog distraction and a barrier of the construction tape across the sidewalk variety. We are learning how to work together. Elwood is sensitive and needs support to assertively push me if he needs to go around an obstacle. I need to help him to gain confidence to do this. We also had a traffic check–the class supervisor drove a van toward us, causing Elwood to back up. I need to learn how to back up with him. These are staged and I know they are coming. they are carried out on the streets and in driveways. The cars and vans the staff drive have the Seeing Eye logo on them. Sometimes they get stopped by the public, wondering why they are trying to run over the people with dogs. They have to explain what they are doing. Once when an instructor was working with someone without a dog but with the harness, someone came up to the instructor and said, k, Didn’t they used to have dogs doing this? Have you replaced them with human beings?

On Sundays, no trips are scheduled. It’s a day of rest and relaxation. This sounds as if we just sit arounde and do nothing. Nothing is farther from the truth. We were awakened at 6:30, one hour later. No music thankfully. I got a load of wash in before breakfast. After breakfast, I went to the tech center because my laptop was not connecting to the internet. Neither were the computers in the tech center. They had some sort of fire wall problem which was later fixed. I also learned how to use a treadmill. Then it was time for a meeting. We learned about the new gentle leaders, a flexi line and put rough weather booties on our dogs. One of the other class members and I were on the floor with our labs who were rolling around, wondering what these items were. We all got to laughing. We all hope the first couple of mornings we think we need to use these that we have plenty of time to suit up. Afterwards, another class member and I went out onto the leisure path. It’s a third of a mile long and makes a loop through some of the 60 acres of the Seeing Eye property. We went around twice, each of us taking the lead for one trip. Then it was time for Sunday dinner at 1 p.m. After that I had a 60-minute massage. Lots of tight places. 3 p.m. I tried to take a nap. My instructor wantede to do obedience. I turned her away. A class member checked in. I did the same. There was Elwood’s dinner and park, my dinner and a run to put the last load of wash in, a hasty reading for yet another meeting, upstairs for the meeting itself, back downstairs for the wash, back outside for park, and then back to look in on a classmate who was not feeling well. I was given some more information about Elwood. He was born January 8, 2005. He is 22 inches tall and weighs 60.7 pounds. This makes him about Caitlin’s size when I first got her but he seems smaller. You can judge. Caitlin wieghed about 76 pounds when she died. Today we are going to learn a new route and do it solo on Wednesday. Mr. Elwood has expressed interest in my laptop this morning. He is beginning to recognize that my attention to it is inattention to him. He is also starting to take my hands off the keyboard.

Elwood and I had our solo today. We were second of two so we sat in the van for a time. Elwood jumped into my lap, all cuddly. I’m learning that he is a sneak and a cheat so don’t play poker with him! Licking my face also means an opportunity looking out the side and back windows of the van. It is a gorgeous day here. The storm came through quickly last night. By the time I got outside for our solo walk, I could open my light winter coat. The sun is out. We had a very successful trip. Elwood pulled well. I understand he took advantage of me. Remember, Elwood is a cheat and a sneak. I thought we had a tight place by a tree. We didn’t. Elwood just wanted to sniff. He also did some air scenting and slipped under a flag which brushed the top of my hair. I caught him at taking a shortcut through a gravel area with trees and made him do it right. Otherwise, he was great. He is tired though. He laid down on the van floor after coming in up and over my lap. Getting out of the van, I slipped and sat down hard.. Elwood bounced out of the van so we had to do it all over again correctly. He’s been quiet. We don’t have a trip scheduled until Monday morning though we can take a turn arounde the leisure path this afternoon and tomorrow which will be very nice. The leisure path was closed due to snow cover when I was here last so this is a welcome treat. We also have to do laundry and get some serious writing done.

A difficult day today. It was rainy in the morning and it was warm. Came back drenched–Elwood, too. I was paired up with one student in the A.M. and paired up with a different student this afternoon. It was so dark and the sidewalks were crowded by 3 p.m. Elwood worked well avoiding most obstacles and being careful in tight places, however, he wasn’t pulling. I’m working with the instructor and the class supervisor. We’ll see how Elwood does tomorrow at our test and at the beginning of the week with a day and a half of rest. It’s worrisome. Pray for restorative rest and good work habits.

I have never been a morning person. I can get up. I can do what is necessary, however, I am not a morning person. Today I was awakened at 5:30 a.m. with Frank Sanatra singing about coffee in Brazil. A bit jarring. Big band orchestration but not a young Sanatra singing. I stagger out of bed and start looking for clothes. The instructor arrives with food and with instructions. “What?” “Here’s a heart guard pill. Take it from your shoulder down to your dog and tell him ‘Take it.’” Something new at 5:30 am? My responses must have been genetic. II sounded just like my mother in the morning. I usually don’t sound like her, but in the morning … Well, she’ll have to come and search the floor. I dropped the pill while trying to give it to a very excited dog. Note to self: Be more firm with Elwood. He can obey even before breakfast. We have different mothers.

Today we started a new route. It’s called the South Street Route because it does have four blocks of South Street along the square as one part of it. Morristown is under construction. They are adding lamp posts in the center of the wide sidewalk. Also the department store Epstene’s is being torn down and a new development will go in there. Part of it will be a parking garage where the Seeing Eye vans can park and a new lounge. The lounge has places for the dog to stay and people. I can’t tell you anything about it because I’ve never been there. For one reason or another it has been closed when I have trained. Along the route today we had a traffic check. I screwed up so we had another one–a car pulling in front of us in a driveway. We also had an unplanned check–a quiet car came out of nowhere in front of us while crossing a street. We also delt with clearance issues. A barrier of cones had been set up. Elwood had to squeeze around between them and some bushes. Later, he went too close to some bushes so we had to rework that. We also had numerous distractions–some planned and some not. Elwood did OK on some and not so well on others. That goes for me, too. We’ve added an extra park time for Elwood before our afternoon trip. Relieving is a major topic of conversation here and we spend a great deal of time concentrating on it. Tonight we began touching our dogs. Elwood’s harness has been temporarily modified so we can get a better feel for one another. This makes a big difference when we walk together. He pulls better and I can do my part of keeping the tention. This afternoon Elwood thought about escaping from the van. I didn’t have a tight hold on him so I dived across the back of the van to grab him. Today we worked without any jackets it was so warm. I understand this will change Friday. My massage this afternoon was very nice. She worked on my calves which have been worked hard. I have a longer appointment Sunday afternoon. Well 5:30 AM comes around quickly. Not only do I have to get up, I have to feed the dog, get dressed, get harnessed up and get outside which includes a nasty set of stairs. My spy thriller also awaits.

Elwood is sstarting to get used to how life will be. Some lab behaviors are popping out. For example: Elwood has a fondness for bananas. He pops up at the breakfast table when my neighbor gets hers. Today I had one. I had to resettle him several times during breakfast. At lunchtime, which is really dinner, Elwood kept bouncing up because we had fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. Settling a dog down with finger-licking-good hands is a challenge. A note on the food: It’s good to be back in New Jersey. The hamberger came without mayo. It was jewish style cole slaw at dinner today. The staff is laughing at me. My instructor drives with NJ abandon. It’s good to spend some time back in my old environment. Right now I am waiting for my instructor to come to oversee our first trip in the house with Elwood in harness. To date, I have been heeling him inside on just a leash. After tonight’s meal, we will go everywhere in harness except to our own lounge area since this is considered being at home. Later Elwood is very hesitant in harness in the house. In fact, he semed to be quite shocked that he was expected to work inside as I have been heeling him to the door. Unfortunately, we don’t have the right tention on the harness when he walks slowly–a definite no-no. Dinner was fairly uneventful. I did get a coffee cup with a large nose on it that stuck out which had to make the rounds of the table to show everyone. On our way back, we had some problems. I was focused on the route. The instrucgtor still on hall monitor duty kept reminding me of all Elwood’s infractions and my inattention to them. Hey! I was trying to keep track of how I was holding the handle (which is different than I was holding it before) and keeping the tention, or at least trying to. After we got back to our room, I took the shopping bag with Elwood’s grooming tools and we went down into the basement where the grooming room is. (We are not allowed to groom the dogs anywhere else.) We had some difficulty finding the room and doing the clearances right so correct and repeat. The grooming room has a bench running around the outside so the dogs can stand there while you stand on the floor. There are windows to the hallway. I stood on the bench to find the hooks for the harness. They are at the ceiling. Elwood must have thought it was quite peculiar to be told to sit on the floor while I climbed up. Then I called him to me and jumped down. The bag being a nuisance, crinkly sounding and a hindrance to hand signals, I ditched it and put the tools in my pockets for the return journey. And yes, it’s a journey! Each landing is a stop and forward and there are two landings per staircase. The van is high. There are several steps to get up into it. There are no straps, no arm rests to hang onto. This morning, while I was getting up into the back in preparation for calling Elwood to me, I slipped and ended up sitting on the van’s floor. No carpet either! The other student and I laughed and laughed. I wasn’t hurt. I was coming back down because Elwood wasn’t sitting at rest. Each time he gets up, I have to come back and resettle him. We worked in pairs this afternoon. This means two students walking the same route at the same time. We meet at the curbs and then the other one takes the lead. We were doing okay. We were waiting for our traffic check. The class supervisor pulled into the driveway ahead of me, bumper scraping the ground. I jumped. Elwood remained calm, stopping. Good dog!

We are awakened at 5:30 a.m. over an intercom in our rooms. Then it’s hurry, hurry, hurry. Go to the bathroom. Get some clothes on. In the middle of this, someone comes with your dog’s food. Add water. Give it to your dog. Elwood dives at the dish and is eating in mid air. My instructor said I should make him sit–he’ll do that, then wait to be told he can eat when I put down the bowl. I can put down the bowl, but then, charge! Meanwhile, I am finishing getting dressed enough to go outside and filling his water bowl with 3 cups of water. At this point, his input is regulated. In the kennels, the dogs relieve whenever they feel the need. They have been housebroken in their puppy families, but may need a review. Then it’s off to park, often on a dead run. Elwood seems to be getting into a better routine with his body so maybe the initial stress is wearing off. He was a tad constipated. Right now we are waiting for people breakfast at 7. Today we will go on two more trips along a residential street. We’ve been told we will have our first traffic check this afternoon–a staff driven car will be in a driveway across the sidewalk. There will be more of these later. Last night we had a presentation of dog fears. Earlier, there was one on correcting your dog. These take about an hour. We also have to groom our dogs at least once a day. There is down time, but it is in small increments.